FORA.tv Speaker - Nina Jablonski

Biography

Nina G. Jablonski is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at The Pennsylvania State University. A biological anthropologist and paleobiologist, she studies the evolution of adaptations to the environment in Old World primates including humans. Her research program is focused in two major areas. Her paleoanthropological research concerns the evolutionary history of Old World monkeys, and currently includes an active field project in China. Her research on the evolution of human adaptations to the environment centers on the evolution of human skin and skin pigmentation, and includes an active field project examining the relationship between skin pigmentation and vitamin D production. Jablonski is currently involved in the development of new approaches to evolution education in the United States, including the development of a new "genetics and genealogy" curriculum for middle school students. At Penn State, she directs the newly formed cross-college Center for the Study of Human Diversity, Evolution, and Behavior.